On This Day In History

[Bikkie]

1843-First Auckland A and P Show
Agricultural and pastoral shows celebrating excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry became annual events in communities around New Zealand.


1879-Universal male suffrage introduced
The Qualification of Electors Act extended the right to vote (the franchise) to all European men aged 21 or over, regardless of whether they owned or rented property.


1941-HMS Neptune lost in Mediterranean minefield
In New Zealand’s worst naval tragedy, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Neptune struck enemy mines and sank off Libya. Of the 764 men who lost their lives, 150 were New Zealanders.



In Music History

2016-Country songwriter Andrew Dorff, brother of actor Stephen Dorff, dies at age 40. Penned hits for artists such as Martina McBride ("Ride"), Kenny Chesney ("Save It for a Rainy Day"), Blake Shelton ("Neon Light") and Hunter Hayes ("Somebody's Heartbreak").

2012-Madonna gets angry at fans at a concert in Santiago, Chile, for smoking cigarettes near her against her wishes. The singer lectures the audience: "If you're going to smoke cigarettes, I'm not doing a show. You don't care about me, I don't care about you. All right? Are we going to play that game? I'm not kidding. I can't sing if you smoke." Did we mention this is out in the open air in the rain and she is about 10 feet above everybody onstage?

2003-Tori Amos makes her film debut in the Julia Roberts movie Mona Lisa Smile. In her cameo as a '50s big band singer at a wedding reception, she sings the standards "You Belong To Me" and "Murder, He Says," which also appear on the movie's soundtrack.

2000-Roebuck "Pops" Staples (of The Staple Singers) dies at age 85 after a bad fall leaves him with a concussion.

Titanic Opens In Theaters
1997-Titanic opens in theaters. It becomes the top-grossing movie of all time, with a soundtrack that sells about 15 million copies, thanks mostly to the Celine Dion hit, "My Heart Will Go On."

1996-Avenue H in Lubbock, Texas, is renamed Buddy Holly Avenue in honor of the city's hometown hero.

1993-Michael Clarke (drummer for The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers) dies of liver failure at age 47 after decades of alcohol abuse.

1985-Johnny Paycheck is drinking at a bar in Hillsboro, Ohio, when two guys recognize him and sit near him. Things get tense, and Paycheck pulls out a .22 pistol and shoots one of them, grazing his head. That man, Larry Wise, claims that Paycheck got testy after they offered him a meal of deer meat and turtle soup. Wise says Paycheck yelled, "What do you think I am, a country hick?," and shot him.

The country singer is convicted and serves 22 months in jail.

Dolly Parton Is Workin' 9 To 5
1980-9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton and featuring the classic theme song by the singer (where she uses her fingernails as an instrument), opens in theaters. Parton, in her first acting role, stars alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as disgruntled secretaries who get even with their sexist boss.

1978-The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait airs on ABC.

1976-Al Green, recently ordained as a minister, opens the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis, where he preaches most Sundays.

1968-The Friends of Distinction record "Grazin' In The Grass."

1968-Kevin Shepard (drummer for Tonic) is born in Southern California.

1967-For the second time, Joan Baez is arrested for leading a sit-in at the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California to protest the Vietnam War. She's sentenced to 45 days in prison but released after 31.

1965-Keith Moon collapses during a Who concert in Ontario.

1960-The Four Preps record "More Money For You And Me" live at North Hollywood High School.

1958-Pop singer Limahl (lead singer of Kajagoogoo) is born Christopher Hamill in Pemberton, Wigan, England.

1957-Doug Johnson (keyboardist for Loverboy) is born in New Westminster, British Columbia.

1955-Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" two days after writing the song.

1945-Folk musician John McEuen (of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is born in Oakland, California.

1944-Alvin Lee (lead guitarist for Ten Years After) is born Graham Anthony Barnes in Nottingham, England.

1944-Zal Yanovsky (lead guitarist for The Lovin' Spoonful) is born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1941-Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1918-Blues singer Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair, is born in Bogalusa, Louisiana.

1915-Charlie Ryan, who co-wrote and was the first to record the 1955 rockabilly hit "Hot Rod Lincoln," is born in Graceville, Minnesota.

1894-Composer/conductor Paul Dessau is born in Hamburg, Germany.

[Bikkie]

1832-New Zealand’s first cricket match
Church Missionary Society (CMS) leader Henry Williams gave the male pupils (Māori and Pākehā) of his mission school at Paihia in the Bay of Islands a rare day off.

Māori men and women congregate at Rotorua on election day, c 1908.
1893-Women vote in Māori seats for first time
Just over three weeks after New Zealand women became the first in the world to vote in a national parliamentary election, voting was held in the four Māori electorates.


Strikers' meeting in Dunedin
1913-Waterfront strike ends
The Great Strike of 1913, which had begun in late October when Wellington waterside workers stopped work, finally ended when the United Federation of Labour conceded defeat.


In Music History

2019-My Chemical Romance return after a seven-year absence with a show at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

2016-On a flight from Vietnam to South Korea, Richard Marx helps subdue a mentally unhinged passenger who starts attacking flight attendants and fellow passengers. Marx and wife Daisy Fuentes had been vacationing in Hanoi all week before boarding the chaotic four-hour flight.

2012-Rapper Fat Joe pleads guilty in federal court in New Jersey to tax evasion charges. He is charged with failing to pay taxes on over $1 million of income in both 2007 and 2008 and is expected to serve about two years.

2010-Bret Michaels, lead singer of Poison, winds up his VH1 reality TV show Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It by sticking a rock on the finger of Kristi Gibson, his on-and-off girlfriend of 18 years. She was not one of the 25 contestants competing for his affections on Michaels' previous reality show, Rock of Love.

2009-James Gurley (guitarist for Big Brother & the Holding Company) dies of a heart attack in Palm Desert, California, at age 69.

2006-Nearly 40 years after it was recorded, Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher is awarded 40% of the songwriting credit for "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by a London court. The judgment is reduced on appeal in 2008.

2005-Tejano pop singer René Herrera (of René & René) dies of cancer at age 70.

2004-Paula Abdul gets caught in a hit-and-run when she clips another car with her Mercedes and drives off. In March 2005, she is charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

2003-Producer/composer Charles Randolph Grean dies at age 90. Wrote the Phil Harris hit "The Thing" (1950) and arranged Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song."

1986-Thanks to its use in the movie of the same name, Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," originally released in 1961, reaches #9 in the US.

1990-JoJo is born Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque in Brattleboro, Vermont. She is raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

1980-"(Just Like) Starting Over" gives John Lennon his first #1 single as a solo artist in the UK, 12 days after his murder.

1976-Ned Washington, who co-wrote "When You Wish Upon A Star," dies at 75.

1975-Joe Walsh replaces Bernie Leadon in the Eagles. Walsh was previously a member of the James Gang.

1971-The Main Ingredient records "Everybody Plays The Fool."

1971-The live album from the Concert For Bangladesh, held six months earlier in Madison Square Garden, is released in America. The 3-disc set, which includes Bob Dylan's only performance from the 1970-1973 time period, wins the Grammy for Album of the Year.

1971-The Rolling Stones release their compilation Hot Rocks 1964–1971.

1969-Peter, Paul and Mary's "Leaving On A Jet Plane" hits #1, where it stays for one week.

1967-Joan Baez and her mother are sentenced to 45 days in prison for the singer's part in the Oakland Demonstration, where she protested the draft. They're abruptly released after serving 31 days.

1966-Chris Robinson (lead singer for The Black Crowes) is born in Marietta, Georgia. His dad, Stanley "Stan" Robinson, had a 1959 hit with "Boom-A-Dip-Dip."

1965-Wilson Pickett records "634-5789" with Booker T. & the MG's, sans Booker (with Isaac Hayes filling in for him on piano).

1962-The Osmond Brothers (later The Osmonds), minus 5-year-old Donny, make their first appearance on the Andy Williams Show.

1960-Elvis Presley's movie Flaming Star opens.

1959-Jackie Fox is born Jacqueline Fuchs in California. She gives up a promising career in mathematics when she joins The Runaways as bass player at the age of 15, rather than taking early entry into UCLA. After leaving the band, she returns to her studies, graduating from UCLA and then Harvard - where she is a classmate of Barack Obama - and goes on to work as an entertainment lawyer.

1948-Alan Parsons (of The Alan Parsons Project) is born in London, England. He starts his music career as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios, where he engineers Paul McCartney's Wild Life and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

1947-Little Stevie Wright (lead singer for The Easybeats) is born in Leeds, England, but would be raised in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney).

1945-Peter Criss is born George Peter John Criscuola in Brooklyn, New York. He will become the drummer for Kiss and write their song "Beth."

1944-Bobby Colomby (drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears) is born in New York.

1939-Soul singer Kim Weston is born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan. She signs with Motown Records in 1961.

1898-Actress and singer Irene Dunne is born in Louisville, Kentucky. Known for her Academy Award-nominated performances in the '30s and '40s, including Cimarron, Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth, Love Affair and I Remember Mama.

1871-Composer/conductor Henry Kimball Hadley is born in Somerville, Massachusetts.

[Bikkie]

1620 - William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1835 - HMS Beagle, whose crew includes naturalist Charles Darwin, anchors in the Bay of Islands.

1846 - The first surgical operation under anaesthesia in Britain is performed at University College Hospital, London, by Robert Liston.

1891 - James Naismith, a Canadian-American gym teacher at Springfield College, publishes the first rules for the game now known as basketball and brings it to his class, which then plays the first game of basketball.

1898 - Radium is discovered by scientists Pierre and Marie Curie.

1913 - Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cartoon in colour, premieres in Los Angeles.

1945 - US General George Patton dies in Germany, from injuries suffered in a car accident.

1958 - Charles de Gaulle elected first president of France's Fifth Republic.

1964 - More than 170 years of NZ whaling ends with JA Perano and Co catching last whale off Kaikōura.

1965 - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.

1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.

1970 - First flight of F-14 multi-role combat aircraft.

1975 - Terrorists led by Carlos the Jackal raid an Opec meeting in Vienna. More than 60 hostages are taken and two guards are killed. Siege ends two days later with no further loss of life.

1979 - An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and SC Mundawarara.

1988 - A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.

1989 - NZ becomes the first country to set a formal annual inflation target (0-2%).

1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

2012 - Gangnam Style, by Korea’s Psy, becomes the first YouTube video to garner 1 billion views.

2020 - A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.



In Music History

2019-Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" goes to #1 in America for the first time, 25 years after it was first released in 1994.

2014-With gay marriage now legal in England, Elton John marries David Furnish, exactly nine years after they were joined in a civil ceremony.

2013-After five years and 387 shows, Leonard Cohen wraps up his "Grand Tour" in Auckland, New Zealand. It's the last concert he ever plays, as he dies three years later.

2013-"The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna hits #1 in America. It's the first hit co-written by Bebe Rexha, who later emerges as an artist.

2012-Lee Dorman (bassist for Iron Butterfly) dies in Laguna Niguel, California, at age 70.

2010-Amy Grant and Vince Gill wrap up their Twelve Days of Christmas Tour with the first of two shows at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. They return for two more shows in 2011, and in 2012 they play all their holiday shows at the Ryman, establishing their annual Christmas At The Ryman residency.

2007-Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opens in US theaters. Johnny Depp stars as the Demon Barber himself, and manages to earn the respect of critics for his singing performance on the film's soundtrack.

2005-Elton John and his partner David Furnish take part in a civil ceremony (gay marriage is not legal in England) to make their union official. Guests at the ceremony, which takes place in Windsor, England, include George Michael, Sharon Stone, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Nine years later, with gay marriage legal, they get married.

2001-Enrique Iglesias meets Anna Kournikova, a tennis player who is burning up the internet, at the shoot for his "Escape" video, where she plays his love interest. Their on-screen romance turns real; they begin dating and become partners, raising three kids together.

2001-The movie How High opens in theaters. The film stars Method Man and Redman as stoners who get into Harvard.

2000-The Chicago Sun-Times becomes the first newspaper to publish a story detailing R. Kelly's alleged sex crimes with underage girls.

1999-DMX releases his third album, ...And Then There Was X. Led by the singles "What's My Name" and "Party Up (Up in Here)," it goes to #1 in America, where it sells nearly 5 million copies.

1996-En route to a White House dinner with the Clintons, Tony Bennett suffers a ruptured hernia and is rushed to the hospital.

1996-Fourteen months after it was released, No Doubt's album Tragic Kingdom goes to #1 in America, where it spends nine weeks.

1996-Liz Phair and husband Jim Staskauskas welcome baby boy James Nicholas.

1992-Bluesman Albert King dies of a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 69.

1991-"Bohemian Rhapsody" goes back to #1 on the UK charts after the death of Freddie Mercury and stays there for five weeks. In America, the song gets new life the next year when it is used in the movie Wayne's World.

1989-Carlos Santana (of Santana) and his wife Debbie welcome their daughter Angelica Faith.

1988-Paul Avron Jeffreys (bassist for Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel) is killed en-route to his honeymoon when he and his wife, Rachel, become victims of the Lockerbie terrorist bombing (of Pan Am Flight 103). He was 36. The Four Tops were also slated to be onboard the plane but overslept after a late-night recording session.

1985-Dante Bonutto's Phil Lynott interview is screened. It would be the singer's last TV appearance before his death.

1979-At the San Diego Sports Arena, Linda Ronstadt holds a fundraising concert for her boyfriend, California governor Jerry Brown, who is running for president. Chicago and the Eagles also perform.

1979-Willie Nelson makes his acting debut in the Sydney Pollack film The Electric Horseman, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. He also sings five songs for the soundtrack, including the #1 country hit "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys."

The Cure Release Controversial Debut Single
1978-The Cure release their debut single, "Killing An Arab," an existential song about a man who contemplates the meaning of life after murdering an Arab on a beach. Based on the controversial title, the band faces accusations of provoking anti-Arab sentiment.

1974-Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" hits #1 in the US, forcing fathers to consider how much time and attention they're paying to their children.

1971-Martha and the Vandellas officially disband.

1971-Fuel frontman Brett Scallions is born in Brownsville, Tennessee.

Elvis And Nixon Shake On It
1970-Music and politics collide when Elvis Presley meets President Richard Nixon at the White House. A famous photo of the two shaking hands horrifies many Elvis fans.

1970-Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die, Judy Collins' In My Life, and the original British cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar are all certified gold.

1969-On The Ed Sullivan Show, Diana Ross appears with The Supremes for the last time, where they perform "Someday, We'll Be Together."

1968-Janis Joplin makes her solo concert debut in Memphis at an event for the Stax/Volt record label. The Stax house band Booker T. & The MG's also plays.

1966-The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" single as well as their Little Deuce Coupe and Shut Down, Vol. 2. albums are all certified gold.

1965-Gabby Glaser (guitarist, singer for Luscious Jackson) is born in New York.

1959-Chuck Berry is arrested when a 14-year-old girl he brought from Texas to work in his St. Louis club reports him to police. Berry serves 20 months in prison for transporting a minor across state lines.

1953-Soul singer-songwriter Betty Wright is born Bessie Regina Norris in Miami, Florida. Known for '70s hits like "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight is the Night."

1951-Nick Gilder is born in London, England, but will be raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

1946-Carl Wilson is born in Hawthorne, California. He becomes lead guitarist in The Beach Boys when he forms the band with older brothers Dennis and Brian.

1943-Gwen McCrae, known for the 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair," is born in Pensacola, Florida.

Guitarist Albert Lee is born in Lingen, Herefordshire, England. Worked with Jon Lord and Eric Clapton, among others.

1942-Carla Thomas, the "Queen of Memphis Soul," is born in Memphis, Tennessee, to R&B singer Rufus Thomas and his wife, Lorene.

1940-Frank Zappa is born in Baltimore, Maryland.

1940-Ray Hildebrand (of Paul & Paula) is born in Joshua, Texas.

1926-Country singer-songwriter Freddie Hart is born Frederick Segrest in Loachapoka, Alabama. Known for the 1971 hit "Easy Loving."

[Bikkie]

1807 - US Embargo Act takes effect, banning trade with Britain, France and the rest of the world.

1808 - Premiere in Vienna of Fifth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.

1895 - First X-ray, of the bones of a woman’s hands, is made by William Conrad Roentgen in Germany.

Peter Fraser's mugshot
1916-Future prime minister charged with sedition
Peter Fraser’s trial in the Wellington Magistrates’ Court was the sequel to a speech in which he attacked the government’s policy of military conscription.



In Music History

2020-Mountain guitarist Leslie West dies at 75 after suffering a heart attack.

2014-Joe Cocker dies of lung cancer at age 70 at his home in Colorado.

2012-Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood marries his girlfriend Sally Humphreys; Wood at age 65 and Humphreys at 34. Coincidentally, the world did not end on the day before, as proponents of the Mayan calendar would have it. Perhaps this bolstered their optimism?

2007-Eleven years after her death, Eva Cassidy goes to #1 in the UK with "What a Wonderful World," a duet blending her recording of the song with fresh vocals from Katie Melua.

2006-At the beginning of their last day in space for the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery is greeted by Perry Como's "(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays."

2006-The producer Swizz Beatz and his wife, the singer Mashonda Tifrere, have their first child, Kasseem Dean Jr. In 2016, Kasseem's stepmother Alicia Keys writes a song for him called "Blended Family (What You Do For Love)."

2003-Country singer Dave Dudley dies of a heart attack in Danbury, Wisconsin, at age 75.

2002-Joe Strummer of The Clash dies of a heart attack at age 50. The Clash are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few months later.

2000-The Coen Brothers movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? hits theaters. With the song "Man Of Constant Sorrow" a centerpiece of the film, it ignites interest in bluegrass music. The soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, sells over 7 million copies in America.

1998-Singer/rapper Latto is born Alyssa Stephens in Columbus, Ohio. Raised in Atlanta, she lands her big break as the first winner of Jermaine Dupri's reality series The Rap Game. After changing her stage name from Miss Mulatto to Latto, she hits the mainstream with the pop-infused rap song "Big Energy."

Whitney Houston Stars In Waiting To Exhale
1995-Three years after her feature film debut in The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston gives her second acting performance in Forest Whitaker's romantic drama Waiting to Exhale, leading an all-African American cast that includes Angela Bassett and Dennis Haysbert.

1993-Vince Gill meets Amy Grant when she appears on his televised Christmas special, where they duet on "Tennessee Christmas." Sparks fly, but they're both married. They grow closer over the next few years and start dating in 1999 after both are divorced; in 2000 they wed.

1993-Meghan Trainor is born on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts. She starts as a songwriter, penning tunes for Rascal Flatts and Sabrina Carpenter before landing a huge hit as a solo artist with her debut single, "All About That Bass," in 2014. In 2022 she grows an enormous following on TikTok, with videos of her song "Made You Look" earning hundreds of millions of views.

1991-Gregg Allman (of The Allman Brothers Band) makes his acting debut as a drug kingpin in the movie Rush.

1990-At the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Pearl Jam, still known as Mookie Blaylock, open for Alice in Chains. Chris Cornell comes on stage and puts Eddie Vedder on his shoulders at one point.

1989-Jordin Sparks is born in Phoenix, Arizona. At age 17, she wins the sixth season of American Idol (2007).

1988-At Wolverhampton Civic Hall in England, Morrissey makes his solo debut. It's closure for his group The Smiths, which broke up a year earlier but never made an official announcement. Anyone wearing either a Morrissey or Smiths shirt is admitted free.

1988-During an interview, Phil Collins jokes about wanting to make a film version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" with Danny DeVito and Bob Hoskins. DeVito later reads the interview and contacts Phil about actually making the movie. Hoskins also signs on (as well as Kim Basinger as Goldilocks) but the film is never made.

1985-Dennes Boon of the Minutemen is killed in a van accident in Tucson, Arizona, at age 27.

1979-Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" hits #1 on the Hot 100. It retains the top spot for two more weeks, becoming the last chart-topper of the '70s and the first of the '80s.

1979-The Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea benefit premieres at London's Hammersmith Odeon, featuring organizer Paul McCartney, The Who, Queen, and an all-star "Rockestra."

1978-Steven Tyler and Cyrinda Foxe have a baby girl named Mia.

1978-The stage version of Nilsson's musical The Point opens in London, featuring ex-Monkees Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz.

1978-Faces' drummer Kenney Jones joins The Who, replacing Keith Moon, who had died from an accidental overdose of anti-alcoholic medications two months earlier.

1976-Bob Seger earns his first Gold record with the live album Live Bullet.

1976-Isaac Hayes files for bankruptcy.

1972-Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter writes "All The Way From Memphis" and dedicates it to two of their crew, Leee Childers and Tony Zanetta. And Memphis, Tennessee.

1972-Joni Mitchell's For the Roses album is certified Gold.

1969-John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Minister of Health John Munro to discuss drug abuse.

1968-Singer Eric Burdon leaves The Animals for a solo career.

1967-The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft and newcomer Dustin Hoffman, premieres in US theaters. It spawns a hit soundtrack featuring songs from Simon & Garfunkel, including "Mrs. Robinson."

1967-Richey Edwards (lyricist, rhythm guitarist for Manic Street Preachers) is born in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales.

1966-Beatles producer George Martin and his engineer Geoff Emerick pull off one of the all-time great feats of sound editing: combining two takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" - in different keys and tempos - to make one song. The edit is 59 seconds in, just before John Lennon sings, "Going to..."

1962-The Tornadoes' "Telstar" - an instrumental inspired by the Telstar satellite - hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks.

The Chipmunk Song hits #1.
1958-The Chipmunks' "The Chipmunk Song" hits #1 on the Hot 100, the last Christmas song to ever top the chart.

1949-The twins Maurice and Robin Gibb are born in Douglas, Isle Of Man, and raised in Manchester, England. They join older brother Barry to form the Bee Gees.

1948-Rick Nielsen (lead guitarist for Cheap Trick) is born in Elmhurst, Illinois.

1944-Barry Jenkins (drummer for Nashville Teens, The Animals) is born Colin Ernest Jenkins in Leicester, England.

1939-Blues singer Ma Rainey - known as "The Mother of the Blues" - dies of a heart attack in Rome, Georgia, at age 53.

1939-James Gurley (guitarist for Big Brother & the Holding Company) is born in Detroit, Michigan.

1938-Country singer-songwriter Red Steagall is born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, Texas. He discovers Reba McEntire in 1975.

1930-American songwriter Charles K. Harris, known for "After The Ball," dies in New York City, at age 63.

[Bikkie]

1953-Queen Elizabeth II arrives for royal tour
For the New Zealanders who experienced it, the visit of the young Queen and her dashing husband, Prince Philip, in the summer of 1953–4 was a never-to-be forgotten event.


In Music History

2018-Miley Cyrus marries the actor Liam Hemsworth. They split up eight months later.

2015'-80s hitmaker Richard Marx marries model and TV host Daisy Fuentes. Marx was previously married to actress/dancer Cynthia Rhodes.

2009-Andre Kyles aka DJ Omega Supreme (of Organized Konfusion) dies of cancer.

2007-Jazz musician Oscar Peterson dies at age 82.

2006-English entertainer Charlie Drake dies in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, after suffering multiple strokes at age 81.

2003-Simon & Garfunkel donate a million dollars to the Children's Health Fund (started by Paul six years earlier.)

1999-Cristin Keleher, an unemployed musician in Hawaii, breaks into George Harrison's Maui home and makes herself at home, ordering pizza, drinking root beer, doing laundry, and calling her mother before authorities arrive to arrest her. She is eventually charged with breaking and entering and theft, and serves four months. "I thought I had a psychic connection with George," she says.

1997-Jackie Landry (of The Chantels) dies of breast cancer at age 56.

1996-Two weeks after his divorce from Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt is finalized, Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx marries Baywatch star Donna D'Errico.

1996-Tony Bennett is released from a Washington, DC, hospital after an emergency hernia operation (he was stricken while preparing to perform at the White House).

1994-Dan Hamilton of Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds dies of Cushing's syndrome in Los Angeles, California, at age 48.

1992-Eddie Hazel (lead guitarist for Funkadelic) dies from internal bleeding and liver failure in Plainfield, New Jersey, at age 42.

1991-James Brown sues the producers of the movie The Commitments, claiming his name and likeness were used without his permission (he loses the case five years later).

1989-Ice Cube is fired from N.W.A, who had just rose to fame with their multi-platinum record Straight Outta Compton. Cube eventually goes solo.

1987-Carly Simon marries her second husband, James Hart. They divorce in 2006; he later comes out as gay.

1985-Reno, Nevada residents James Vance, 20 and Raymond Belknap, 18, shoot themselves in a suicide pact after spending hours drinking, smoking marijuana and listening to Judas Priest's Stained Class album. A lawsuit filed by their families claims the track "Better By You, Better Than Me" contains subliminal messages encouraging the suicides, but the case is dismissed.

1978-Rod Stewart releases "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" in the US.

Cat Stevens Becomes Yusuf Islam
1977-Cat Stevens converts to Islam and changes his name to Yusuf Islam.

1972-At the Grand Funk Railroad concert in Madison Square Garden, the group's former manager, Terry Knight, brings a court order allowing him to confiscate the group's equipment, which he does at the end of the show.

1969-Elton John meets for the first time with what would become his classic team - songwriter Bernie Taupin, arranger Paul Buckmaster, and producer Gus Dudgeon - to begin work on his first solo album.

1967-John Lennon makes the first contact with his estranged father, Alf, in years: After hearing that he's taken ill, John sends him a get well note and a car so that he can visit his famous son.

1967-Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy appears on CBS-TV's My Three Sons in the episode "Liverpool Saga."

1966-Eighteen-year-old Olivia Newton-John makes her film debut in the Australian musical comedy Funny Things Happen Down Under, about a group of kids who stumble upon a formula to make rainbow-colored sheep's wool. Olivia has a minor role but sings "Christmas Time Down Under."

1966-London's premiere psychedelic hangout, the UFO club, opens on Tottenham Court Road, with Pink Floyd as the house band.

1966-With union rules ending the practice of lip-synching on British TV, the popular show Ready Steady Go! broadcasts its last show with guests, featuring The Who, Mick Jagger and Eric Burdon.

1964-After appearing on the TV show Shindig! where they perform their Christmas hit "Little Saint Nick," The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson has a nervous breakdown on a flight to Houston, where they begin a two-week tour. Wilson decides to stop performing, and Glen Campbell replaces him on the tour.

1964-Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam frontman) is born Edward Louis Severson III in Evanston, Illinois. The surname Vedder comes from his mom's maiden name.

1964-Boasting a hipper, more commercial staff of on-air DJs, Radio London, Britain's third major "pirate radio" station, begins broadcasting from MV Galaxy, a former American vessel used as a minesweeper in WWII.

1961-The Beach Boys make their live debut, performing two songs during the intermission of Dick Dale's concert at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Newport Beach, California.

1959-The Drifters record "This Magic Moment."

1958-Folk rocker Victoria Williams, known for "Crazy Mary" and "Century Plant," is born in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1957-Simon & Garfunkel (then known as Tom & Jerry) release their first single.

1956-Dave Murray (guitarist for Iron Maiden) is born in Edmonton, London, England.

1955-Fats Domino records "My Blue Heaven" at J&M Studios in New Orleans.

1951-Johnny Contardo (of Sha Na Na) is born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1949-Adrian Belew is born Robert Steven Belew in Covington, Kentucky. The guitarist plays with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, King Crimson, Paul Simon, Nine Inch Nails, Primus, and William Shatner.

1947-Three scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey demonstrate the transistor, which leads to the invention of small, portable "transistor" radios. The scientists win the 1956 Nobel Prize for their work.

1947-Graham Bonnet is born in Skegness, England. He'll go on to front the rock bands Alcatrazz and Rainbow.

1946-Singer-songwriter Robbie Dupree, known for the 1980 hit "Steal Away," is born Robert Dupuis in Brooklyn, New York.

1946-Ariel Bender (guitarist for Mott the Hoople) is born Luther James Grosvenor in Evesham, Worcestershire, England.

1945-Ron Bushy (drummer for Iron Butterfly) is born in Washington, DC.

1943-Harry Shearer (aka Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap) is born in Los Angeles, California. Shearer is also known for voicing a number of characters on The Simpsons, including Principal Skinner and Ned Flanders.

1941-Folk musician Tim Hardin is born James Timothy Hardin in Eugene, Oregon. Wrote the '60s hit "If I Were A Carpenter."

1941-The Chi-Lites lead singer and primary songwriter Eugene Record is born in Chicago, Illinois.

1940-Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist for Jefferson Airplane) is born in Washington, DC.

1935-Johnny Kidd (of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates) is born Frederick Albert Heath in Willesden, North London, England.

1935-R&B/jazz singer "Little" Esther Phillips is born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas. At age 14 she's discovered by Johnny Otis, a musician and talent scout, and soon lands her first hit with "Double Crossing Blues."

1929-Jazz singer/trumpeter Chet Baker is born Chesney Henry Baker Jr. in Yale, Oklahoma. He hits his stride in the '50s when he joins the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and releases his signature hit "My Funny Valentine."

1926-Harold Dorman, known for the 1960 hit "Mountain of Love," is born in Drew, Mississippi.

1689-Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier is born in Thionville, France.

Cat Stevens Becomes Yusuf Islam
1977-Cat Stevens converts to Islam and changes his name to Yusuf Islam.

[Piper]

1862-Abel Tasman's crew celebrated Christmas
with pork and wine, making the first Christmas
in New Zealand.


1769-Captain Cook's crew had a festive meal
of gannet pie ( in place of goose ) while
anchored off North Cape.


1814-The first Christian mission established
by Samuel Marsden making a significant
religious milestone on Christmas Day.

[Bikkie]

Painting of Marsden's first sermon

1914-First Christian mission established
At Hohi (Oihi) Beach in the Bay of Islands, Samuel Marsden preached in English to a largely Māori gathering, launching New Zealand’s first Christian mission.


First to climb Aoraki/Mt Cook, left to right: Jack Clarke, George Graham, Tom Fyfe

1894-First ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook
At 1.30 on the afternoon of Christmas Day 1894, three young men became the first to stand atop Aoraki/Mt Cook, the highest mountain in the colony.



In Music History

2024-Halftime of the Christmas Day NFL game between the Ravens and Texans is the "Beyoncé Bowl," a grand spectacle that rivals Super Bowl halftime shows. Queen Bey rides in on a horse and sings an abridged version of her Cowboy Carter album, with Post Malone and Shaboozey singing their parts, and her daughter Blue Ivy showing up for a "Texas Hold 'Em" hoedown.

2024-The Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, with Williams depicted as a CGI chimp, opens in theaters. Despite the monkey business, the film covers some heavy topics, like his battles with addiction and struggles with fame.

2023-The second film adaptation of The Color Purple opens in theaters with Fantasia Barrino, who starred in the Broadway production in 2007, reprising her role as Celie, performed in the first film (1985) by Whoopi Goldberg. Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Jon Batiste and Ciara also appear in the film.

George Michael Dies
2016-George Michael dies of heart failure aged just 53 in bed at his riverside home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He is found by his boyfriend, Australian hair stylist Fadi Fawaz.

2015-Concussion, a biographical drama starring Will Smith as a doctor who exposes the risk of traumatic brain injuries in football players, debuts in theaters. Soul singer Leon Bridges wrote the tune "So Long" for the movie.

2010-Alanis Morissette gives birth to her first child, a son named Ever Imre. Morissette married the baby's father, rapper Mario "Souleye" Treadway, earlier in the year.

2009-Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy (frontman for Redbone) dies of liver failure in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 63.

2009-Singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt dies from an overdose of muscle relaxants at age 45.

2008-Bluesman Robert Ward dies from a culmination of health issues, including two strokes, in Dry Branch, Georgia, at age 70.

2008-Eartha Kitt dies of colon cancer in Weston, Connecticut, at age 81.

2006-James Brown, age 73, dies of congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia.

Jennifer Hudson Makes Acting Debut In Dreamgirls
2006-Alongside stars like Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson makes her acting debut in the movie Dreamgirls, based on the Supremes-inspired Broadway musical.

1998-Bryan MacLean (guitarist and songwriter for Love), age 52, dies of a heart attack in a Los Angeles restaurant.

1998-Singer/actress Damita Jo dies at age 68 following a respiratory illness in Baltimore, Maryland.

1995-Dean Martin, also suffering from lung cancer, dies from acute respiratory failure due to emphysema at age 78. Las Vegas honors the legend by dimming the lights along the city's famous Strip.

1995-Eminem's daughter, Hailie Jade, is born. He mentions her in many of his songs, and in 1999 her cooing appears on his track "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (where Em imagines killing Hailie's mother, Kim). Eminem gets her name tattooed on his arm.

1994-Green Day play Madison Square Garden in New York City. It's quite a leap for the band, which had been playing small clubs at the beginning of the year. During the show, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong performs wearing only socks and a strategically placed guitar.

1990-Soldiers in South Carolina are treated to a concert by James Brown, who is given a furlough from the work center where he is being detained so he can play for the troops. He includes his patriotic hit "Living In America" in the set.

1984-The twins Lisa and Jess Origliasso are born in Albany Creek, Queensland, Australia. They form The Veronicas.

1982-David Bowie and Bing Crosby's "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth," an unlikely duet broadcast five years earlier on Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas TV special, becomes an even more unlikely hit, reaching #1 in the UK.

1981-The J. Geils Band play a gig for prisoners at Boston's Norfolk Correctional Center, with lead singer Peter Wolf telling his captive audience, "We wanna be the first to buy you all a free drink on the outside."

1977-At Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield, the The Sex Pistols play their last UK gig before their split. The show is a charity benefit for firemen who are on strike.

1976-Boston's debut single, "More Than A Feeling," reaches its US chart peak at #5. When it was released, group leader Tom Scholz still had his day job working for Polaroid.

The Sting Revives Ragtime
1973-The Sting, a crime caper starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as con men in 1930s Chicago, debuts in theaters. With Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" as its theme, the film's soundtrack goes to #1 and revives the ragtime genre.

1973-Slade, Suzi Quatro and 10cc are among the performers on the BBC Top Of The Pops Christmas special. The show's dancers do a routine with dogs to Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down," leading to rumors that the "bad dog baby" in the song was Sullivan's misbehaving pooch (it isn't).

1972-Pop singer Dido is born Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong in Kensington, London, England.

1971-Noel Hogan (guitarist for The Cranberries) is born in Moyross, Limerick, England. He writes most of the music for their songs, with Dolores O'Riordan adding the lyrics.

1971-Melanie's "Brand New Key," a whimsical song about a young girl pursuing a boy with a skate key that might fit her pair, hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks.

1969-16-year-old Robbie Bachman of Winnipeg, Canada, receives his first drum kit for Christmas and begins to play along with his older brother, guitarist Randy. Just three years later, Randy asks him to join his new band, named Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

1967-Paul McCartney announces his engagement to Jane Asher (they break up eight months later without ever getting married).

1965-The Dave Clark Five's "Over And Over" hits #1.

1964-The Zombies headline Murray the K's Big Holiday Show in New York City.

1960-Twelve-year-old James Taylor gets his first guitar as a Christmas present.

1957-Shane MacGowan is born in Pembury, Kent, England, to Irish parents. In 1982 he forms The Pogues, blending Celtic music with punk. Fittingly, their most famous tune is a Christmas song: "Fairytale of New York."

1954-Up-and-coming R&B star Johnny Ace, age 25, is killed when he shoots himself backstage at a concert in Houston, possibly while playing Russian Roulette. His song "Pledging My Love" becomes a hit after his death.

1954-Annie Lennox is born in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1980 she forms Eurythmics with her ex-boyfriend Dave Stewart, and in 1992 she releases her first solo album, Diva, with the hits "Why" and "Walking On Broken Glass."

1954-Robin Campbell (lead guitarist for UB40) is born in Birmingham, England.

1948-Country singer Barbara Mandrell is born in Houston, Texas. She would have her first #1 country hit with "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" in 1978.

1948-Merry Clayton (named for Christmas) is born in New Orleans. A backup singer by trade, she is most famous for her incendiary vocal alongside Mick Jagger on "Gimme Shelter." She would later appear on the Coldplay song "Up & Up."

Jimmy Buffett Is Born
1946-Jimmy Buffett is born in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He's raised in Mobile, Alabama, but his true home will always be in "Margaritaville."

1945-Soul singer Steve Mancha, of 100 Proof (Aged in Soul), is born Clyde Darnell Wilson in Walhalla, South Carolina.

1945-Noel Redding (bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience) is born David Noel Redding in Folkestone, Kent, England.

1944-John Edwards, who in 1977 replaces Philippé Wynne in The Spinners, is born in St. Louis, Missouri.

1944-Henry Vestine aka The Sunflower (guitarist for Canned Heat) is born in Takoma Park, Maryland.

1943-Guitarist Trevor Lucas (of Fairport Convention) is born in Bungaree, Victoria, Australia. He learns to play the guitar to help with his dyslexia.

1937-O'Kelly Isley Jr., the eldest of The Isley Brothers, is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1934-R&B singer McKinley Mitchell, known for the 1962 hit "The Town I Live In," is born in Jackson, Mississippi.

1929-Billy Horton of The Silhouettes is born in Hickory, North Carolina.

1929-R&B singer Chris Kenner, who writes and sings the original version of "Land Of 1000 Dances," is born in Kenner, Louisiana (yes, his last name and birthplace are both Kenner).

1915-Pete Rugolo, jazz composer and arranger, is born Pietro Rugolo in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy, but moves to Santa Rosa, California, by age 5. Known for his work with big band leader Stan Kenton.

1913-Singer/actor Tony Martin is born Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California. A steady presence on the pop charts throughout the '40s and '50s, his biggest hits are 1940's "It's a Blue World" (#2) and 1949's "There's No Tomorrow" (#2).

1907-Jazz singer Cab Calloway is born Cabell Calloway III in Rochester, New York. He would grow up in Baltimore, Maryland.

[Bikkie]

1879-Sectarian violence in Canterbury
In Christchurch, 30 Catholic Irishmen attacked an Orange (Protestant) procession with pick-handles, while in Timaru, 150 men from Thomas O’Driscoll’s Hibernian Hotel surrounded Orangemen and prevented their procession taking place.



In Music History

2016-Pink gives birth to her second child, a baby boy named Jameson Moon. The father is the singer's motocross-star husband, Carey Hart.

2012-R&B singer Fontella Bass, known for the 1965 hit "Rescue Me," dies of complications from a heart attack at age 72.

2009-Thanks to a Facebook campaign to keep yet another X Factor winner from claiming the spot, "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine becomes the UK Christmas #1, 17 years after the song was first released. "A little dose of anarchy for the Christmas holidays is good for the soul," Rage guitarist Tom Morello says.

2003-Matthew West releases his major label debut album, Happy. The lead single, "More," tops the Christian chart.

1981-The AC/DC album For Those About to Rock We Salute You goes to #1 in America for the first of three weeks. It's their first #1 album in that country (their previous album, Back In Black, was a slow build and reached just #4), and their last until Black Ice in 2008.

1999-Curtis Mayfield, debilitated from a 1990 stage accident that left him paralyzed, dies of complications from diabetes at 57. Mayfield was a writer and producer as well as a singer. With his group The Impressions he crafted songs like "Gypsy Woman" and "People Get Ready." As a solo artist, he's best known for the 1972 Super Fly soundtrack with the ultra-funky title tune.

VW Emblems Go Missing When Beastie Boys Come To Town
1986-The Beastie Boys kick off their Licensed To Ill tour with a show at The Ritz in New York City. By the time the tour is over, Licensed To Ill will be America's first #1 rap album, and thousands of Volkswagen emblems will go missing as fans steal them to emulate Mike D's signature look.

1979-Chris Daughtry is born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. He places fourth on the fifth season of American Idol but becomes one of the show's most successful alums after forming his band Daughtry.

1973-The horror movie The Exorcist hits theaters, with a portion of the Mike Oldfield instrumental "Tubular Bells" as the theme music. A 3:18 version of the song (it's 25-minutes long on the album) is released as a single, going to #7 in the US.

1970-George Harrison becomes the first Beatle to top the Hot 100 as a solo artist as "My Sweet Lord" hits #1. The song is inspired by Harrison's spiritual journey: It evokes both the Hindu mantra "Hare Krishna" and the Christian exultation "Hallelujah."

1969-Peter Klett (lead guitarist for Candlebox) is born in Bellevue, Washington.

1968-D.A. Pennebaker's documentary Monterey Pop, which chronicles the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival (where The Who smashed their instruments and Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire) opens in theaters.

Led Zeppelin Open For Vanilla Fudge In First US Concert
1968-Led Zeppelin's first US tour begins in Denver. They're the opening act for Vanilla Fudge.

1967-The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film debuts on BBC-TV.

1967-The Osborne Brothers release "Rocky Top." Written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, it's named for Rocky Top, Tennessee, in the Smoky Mountains. In 1982 it becomes an official state song of Tennessee.

1966-Jimi Hendrix writes the lyrics to "Purple Haze" in his dressing room between performances at London's Uppercrust Club. He claims the song is not about drugs, but inspired by a dream where he was surrounded by a purple haze.

1966-J. Yuenger (guitarist for White Zombie) is born Jay Noel Yuenger in Chicago, Illinois.

1963-Drummer Lars Ulrich is born in Gentofte, Denmark. Transfixed by seeing Deep Purple in concert at age 9, he makes music his life when he moves to America in 1980 at 17. A year later, he forms Metallica with singer/guitarist James Hetfield.

1963-The Beatles release their first hit single in the United States: "I Want To Hold Your Hand" backed with "I Saw Her Standing There." It's their first single issued by Capitol Records; within months the group becomes a Stateside sensation.

1958-Stan Freberg presents a check for $1,000 to the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California as his royalties from the first year's release of "Green Chri$tma$" (he gives all proceeds from the single charity).

1957-The Champs release "Train to Nowhere," which as the title implies, makes no impact. But DJs love the B-side, a saxy tune called "Tequila." Three months later, it's the #1 song in America.

1953-Steve Witherington (drummer for Ace) is born in Enfield, Middlesex, England.

1951-Paul Quinn (guitarist for Saxon) is born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

1946-Bob Carpenter (keyboardist, accordionist for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1940-Famed record producer Phil Spector is born in The Bronx, New York. He moves to Los Angeles in his teens and develops his "wall of sound" recording technique, heard on classic songs like "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." He goes on to produce The Beatles' Let It Be album and also solo albums for George Harrison and John Lennon.

1937-English poet and composer Ivor Gurney dies of tuberculosis at age 47.

1935-Duke Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, is born Abdul Fakir in Detroit.

[Bikkie]

1836-Worst English avalanche kills 8 of 15 buried (Lewes Sussex)
1845- Ether is likely first used in childbirth by surgeon Crawford Long while his wife is giving birth in Jefferson, Georgia
1850- Hawaiian Fire Department established
1862- Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, MS (Chickasaw Bayou)
1862- Battle of Elizabethtown, Kentucky
1867- Ontario & Quebec legislatures hold 1st meeting
1884- Netherlands recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State



In Music History

2023-Nelly and Ashanti get married but keep it secret - TMZ breaks the news months later after discovering the marriage certificate. The couple dated on and off from 2003-2013, then rekindled their romance early in 2023.

2016-Actress Carrie Fisher, known for her iconic role as Princess Leia in Star Wars, dies of a heart attack at age 60. The daughter of Singin' in the Rain actress Debbie Reynolds and former wife of Paul Simon (see "Hearts And Bones"), she also inspired the Blink-182 song "A New Hope": "Princess Leia where are you tonight; and who's laying there by your side."

2014-Alicia Keys gives birth to a second son, Genesis Ali Dean, with husband Swizz Beatz.

2013-Britney Spears debuts her Las Vegas show, Britney: Piece of Me, which runs for four years at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

2013-Vanessa Carlton marries John McCauley of Deer Tick in a ceremony officiated by Stevie Nicks.

2008-Delaney Bramlett (of the '70s blues-rock duo Delaney & Bonnie) dies from complications of gall bladder surgery at age 69.

2004-Hank Garland, a Nashville session guitarist who performed with Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, dies of a staph infection at age 74.

2003Dick St. John (of the '60s pop duo Dick & Dee Dee) dies at age 63 after a fall from the roof of his home.

1999-Puff Daddy is involved in a New York City nightclub shooting that injures three people. He and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, are arrested after fleeing the scene. Puff is put on trial for weapons possession and attempted bribery, but is found innocent in March 2001 after a six-week trial.

1989-Chuck Berry is sued by the former cook of his restaurant - The Southern Air, in Wentzville, Missouri - who claims Berry installed hidden cameras in the ladies restrooms and collected the videos. Over 200 former customers take part in a class action suit against Berry, which is eventually settled out of court.

1988-Hayley Williams is born in Meridian, Mississippi. She moves to Franklin, Tennessee when she's 13 and, two years later, signs a record deal and forms Paramore. She's still a teenager when they break out with the song "Misery Business" from their second album, Riot!, in 2007.

1986-"Reet Petite," a #6 UK hit for Jackie Wilson in 1957, goes to #1 29 years later when it is re-released, and stays at the top for four weeks. Wilson died three years earlier after being incapacitated by a heart attack.

1985-The Krush Groove Christmas party becomes the first rap show held at Madison Square Garden. A tie-in with the movie Krush Groove, the concert features performances by LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Whodini and other acts who appeared in the film. The event makes headlines for the violence that follows, as 14 people are arrested for various crimes.

1983-Rock 'n' roll singer Walter Scott (of Bob Kuban & the In-Men) is shot in the back and left floating in a cistern, where he is found four years later. James H. Williams Sr., who married Scott's second wife, JoAnn, after the singer's disappearance, is found guilty of the murder. JoAnn also receives a five-year prison sentence for hindering the prosecution.

1982-Billy Joel plays a benefit concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania as his song "Allentown" makes its way up the charts.

1981"Georgia On My Mind" composer Hoagy Carmichael dies of heart failure at age 82.

1978-The BBC comes under fire when it plays part of the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen," which has been banned on the network, on a show called "Listen To The Banned." The educator Dr. Rhodes Boyson calls it "another sign of the declining public morality which so rightly worries the general public."

1978-Bob Luman, known for the 1960 novelty hit "Let's Think About Living," dies of pneumonia at age 41.

1978-The BBC comes under fire when it plays part of the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen," which has been banned on the network, on a show called "Listen To The Banned." The educator Dr. Rhodes Boyson calls it "another sign of the declining public morality which so rightly worries the general public."

1975-The Faces announce their split. Rod Stewart devotes himself to his solo career and Ron Wood officially joins The Rolling Stones.

1975-The #1 song in America is "Let's Do It Again," a surprisingly lubricious song by the gospel group the The Staple Singers. The song was written by Curtis Mayfield for the film of the same name starring Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier.

1974-Bob Dylan records "Idiot Wind" and "You're A Big Girl Now."

1972-Matt Slocum (lead guitarist for Sixpence None the Richer) is born in Nashville, Tennessee.

1971-The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour begins a regular run on CBS after previously serving as a summer replacement. It stays on the air for three years.

1969-Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II hits #1 on the American albums chart.

1969-Diana Ross & The Supremes' "Someday, We'll Be Together" hits #1 in the US, the last of their 12 chart-toppers on that tally. It's the last release by the group with Diana Ross, who is the only member to perform on the track.

1967-After establishing his career as a poet and writer, Leonard Cohen releases his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, on Columbia Records. The album doesn't sell particularly well at first, peaking at #83 on the Billboard charts, but Cohen's powerful voice and lyrics in oft-covered tracks like "Suzanne" and "So Long, Marianne" become highly influential.

1967-Bob Dylan releases John Wesley Harding.

1965-Davy Jones plays a junkie on the "If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be A Loser" episode of the TV series Ben Casey. Jones soon lands a lead role on The Monkees.

1964-The Supremes appear on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, singing "Come See About Me." They would go on to appear 20 more times on Sullivan (14 with Diana Ross), more than any other rock act.

1963-London's Sunday Times names Paul McCartney and John Lennon the Outstanding Composers of 1963.

1960-Returning from Hamburg, Germany, The Beatles play a show in their hometown of Liverpool, England, with Chas Newby filling in for Stu Sutcliffe, who stays in Germany and never rejoins the band. The show gets a lot of attention, and is an early taste of Beatlemania.

1960-Ray Charles records "One Mint Julep."

1958-While attending a class at the Liverpool College of Art, John Lennon meets student Cynthia Powell, later to become his first wife.

1952-Guitarist David Knopfler is born in Glasgow, Scotland. Along with his older brother Mark, he forms Dire Straits in 1977, but leaves the band after their second album in 1980 to launch a solo career.

1951-Folk rocker Karla Bonoff is born in Santa Monica, California. Linda Ronstadt covered several of her songs for the 1976 album Hasten Down The Wind, including "All My Life, a popular duet with Aaron Neville.

1950-Terry Bozzio (drummer for Missing Persons, Captain Beefheart) is born in San Francisco, California.

1948-Larry Byrom (guitarist for Steppenwolf) is born in Huntsville, Alabama.

1947-Albert Hodges, the father of English singer-songwriter Chas Hodges (of Chas & Dave), commits suicide the day before his son's fourth birthday.

1944-Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones is born in Portsmouth, England. Along with lead singer Lou Gramm, he's the primary songwriter in the band, whose hits include "Juke Box Hero" and "I Want to Know What Love Is."

1944-Amy Beach, composer and popular concert pianist, dies of heart disease at age 77.

1943-Peter Sinfield (keyboardist, lyricist for King Crimson) is born in Fulham, London, England.

1942-Mike Heron (of Incredible String Band) is born James Michael Heron in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1941-Mike Pinder (original keyboardist for The Moody Blues) is born in Erdington, Birmingham, England.

1941-Les Maguire (pianist for Gerry and the Pacemakers) is born in Wallasey, Cheshire, England.

1940-Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler divorce after a dozen years of marriage.

1932-With 6,200 seats and a stage spanning 10,000 square feet, the world's largest indoor theater of the time, Radio City Music Hall, opens in New York City with a massive six-hour show.

1931-Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley's original guitarist) is born in Gadsden, Tennessee.

1931-Jazz pianist Walter Norris is born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1927-Show Boat opens at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway, changing the paradigm for modern musicals.

1906-Hollywood composer and pianist Oscar Levant is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

[Bikkie]

Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III lying in state, 1929
1929-'Black Saturday' in Samoa
New Zealand military police fired on Mau independence demonstrators in Apia, killing eight Samoans, including the independence leader Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.



In Music History

2021-Dr. Dre's divorce is settled, with the rapper/producer agreeing to pay his ex wife, Nicole Plotzker-Young, $100 million. They were married from 1996-2020.

2016-Singin' in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds dies of a stroke at age 84, one day after losing her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, to a fatal heart attack.

2015-Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister dies of cancer. He got the diagnosis two days after turning 70, and died two days later.

2014-Singer Frankie Randall, who often played piano for the Rat Pack in the '60s and entertained in Frank Sinatra's home, dies of lung cancer at age 76.

2010-Southern rocker "Mean Gene" Kelton dies at 57 when his SUV collides with a school bus in Crosby, Texas.

2009-Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (drummer and co-lead vocalist for Avenged Sevenfold) dies from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol at age 28. The coroner also notes cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) which may have contributed to his death.

2005-Barry Cowsill (of The Cowsills) is found under a wharf in the Mississippi River. Cowsill, living in New Orleans, survived Hurricane Katrina but drowned in the flooding following the storm.

2004-On his 26th birthday, John Legend releases his debut solo album, Get Lifted. The lead single is the kiss-off song "Used to Love U," but the second single, the tender ballad "Ordinary People," is the most enduring song. The album is the first released on Kanye West's GOOD Music label.

2003-Pete Townshend of The Who reveals to a London newspaper that he seriously considered suicide after a 2002 arrest for child pornography charges. The guitarist had claimed he was visiting child porn websites as research for a book dealing with his own sexual abuse as a child.

2003-Out on bail and awaiting trial on charges he molested a teenage boy, Michael Jackson proclaims his innocence on 60 Minutes, telling Ed Bradley, "I was outraged. I could never do something like that."

2002-Cambodia deports Gary Glitter and extradites him back to the UK to face a conviction in London on child pornography charges.

2002-Meri Wilson, known for the 1977 hit "Telephone Man," dies in a car crash at age 53.

1998-Suffering from alcoholism and depression, Atlanta Rhythm Section lead singer Ronnie Hammond gets in an altercation with police in Macon, Georgia, who shoot and wound the singer.

1993-Shania Twain and superproducer Mutt Lange get married. In 2001, they have a son named Eja, but divorce in 2010 after Lange takes up with Twain's best friend.

1985-Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time" goes to #2 in the US, held back by Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me." Written and produced by Rick James, it charts higher than any other James composition.

1983-Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys dies after diving into very cold water from a boat slip in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles.

1981-The cost of a two song 45-rpm single reaches $1.98 (about the same as the cost of downloading two songs today).

1979-The Kate Bush Christmas Special, also known as Kate, airs on the BBC. The singer performs songs from her first three albums and introduces the holiday tune "December Will Be Magic Again." Peter Gabriel guest stars, singing "Here Comes The Flood" and, with Bush, a duet of Roy Harper's "Another Day."

1978-Rolling Stone's annual Readers and Critics Poll both agree that The Rolling Stones album Some Girls is Album Of The Year.

1976-Bluesman Freddie King dies of acute pancreatitis and complications from stomach ulcers at age 42.

1975-Ted Nugent has a .44 Magnum gun pulled on him at a concert in Spokane, Washington, until the man is wrestled to the ground by security.

1974-Helen Reddy lands her third #1 hit in America when "Angie Baby" goes to the top.

1972-Mick Jagger visits Managua, Nicaragua, with his wife Bianca, searching for her mother after a devastating recent earthquake that claimed thousands of lives. Fortunately, Bianca's mother is fine.

1971-Max Steiner, known for composing iconic film scores for Casablanca and Gone With The Wind, among others, dies of congestive heart failure at age 83.

1971-Sha Na Na makes the big time tonight, headlining Carnegie Hall with host Keith Moon of The Who (a huge fan of the group, as it turns out).

1970-John Lennon releases "Mother."

Florida Hosts The First Major East Coast Rock Festival
1968-Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Steppenwolf and the Grateful Dead, land in Hallandale, Florida's Gulfstream Park to entertain 100,000 fans at Miami Pop Festival II, the East Coast's first major rock festival.

1968-he Beatles' ninth studio album, The Beatles (aka The White Album), hits #1 in America.

1965-Elvis Presley and his girlfriend Priscilla try LSD for the first, and last, time at his Graceland mansion.

1963-The magazine The New Yorker publishes an interview with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in their "Talk Of The Town" column about the band's upcoming Ed Sullivan gig - the first major press the group has received in the US.

1963-Teen idol Bobby Vee marries his first and only wife, Karen Bergen, in Orchard Lane, Michigan.

1963-German composer Paul Hindemith dies of pancreatitis at age 68.

1963-Merle Haggard makes his first appearance on the country chart with "Sing A Sad Song," which peaks at #19.

1962-Michel Petrucciani is born in Orange, France. Despite suffering from a genetic condition that stunts his growth and leaves him with brittle bones, he becomes a renowned jazz pianist.

1961-Jazz singer-songwriter Christine Collister is born on the Isle of Man in the UK.

1960-The Connie Francis movie Where The Boys Are is released. The movie - risqué for its time - is about four college girls on Spring Break. It leads to a whole genre of Spring Break movies and popularizes Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it was shot, as the destination of choice.

1959-Frankie Avalon's "Why" hits #1.

1950-Alex Chilton of The Box Tops and Big Star is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1948-Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste (drummer for The Meters) is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1947-Dick Diamonde (bass guitarist for The Easybeats) is born Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs in Hilversum, the Netherlands.

1946-Edgar Winter is born in Beaumont, Texas.

1944-Leonard Bernstein scores his first big hit when his musical On The Town, featuring the song "New York, New York," opens on Broadway.

1943-Chas Hodges of the duo Chas & Dave is born in North Middlesex Hospital, Edmonton.

1937-French composer Maurice Ravel dies in Paris aged 62.

1932-Rockabilly singer Dorsey Burnette (of Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio) is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1921-Johnny Otis is born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes in Vallejo, California. A singer and songwriter in his own right, he also works as a talent scout and discovers several artists, including Etta James and "Hound Dog" singer Big Mama Thornton.

1914-Roebuck "Pops" Staples (The Staple Singers) is born on a cotton plantation near Winona, Mississippi.

1910-Billy Williams is born Wilfred Williams in Waco, Texas. He has a hit cover of Fats Waller's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter" in 1957.

1903-Jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines is born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.

[Bikkie]

1170 - Archbishop Thomas Becket is slain at the altar in Cathedral of Canterbury, England.

1721 - French occupy Mauritius and rename it Ile de France.

Mary Dobie's grave
1888-Tuhiata hanged for murder of Mary Dobie
Tuhiata (Ngāti Ruanui, Tītahi; known as Tuhi) was hanged in Wellington for the murder of the artist Mary Dobie at Te Namu, near Ōpunake. He wrote to the governor of New Zealand a few days before his execution, asking that 'my bad companions, your children, beer, rum and other spirits die with me'.

1890 - US troops massacre 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

1931-Floating dock breaks moorings in Wellington Harbour
Built in England, the Wellington Harbour Board’s new Jubilee Dock was 178 m long, 36 m wide and could lift ships displacing 17,000 tons.

1989 - Czechoslovak dissident playwright Vaclav Havel is elected president by parliament.

1996 - Guatemalan government and guerrilla leaders sign an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict.

1998 - In Yemen, troops fire on Islamic extremists holding 16 tourists hostage. Six hostages are killed.

2001 - Fireworks explosions spark massive fire in downtown Lima, the capital of Peru, killing 291 people.

2004 - Paramedics spray Indian beaches with bleach and vaccinate tsunami survivors, as Indonesian authorities bulldoze mass graves for thousands of corpses lining the streets and lawns of Banda Aceh.

2013 - Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.

2020 - French designer Pierre Cardin dies, aged 98.




In Music History

2016-Azealia Banks reveals that she has been sacrificing chickens for three years when she posts an Instagram video of her cleaning up the mess.

2011-Alaska: The Last Frontier debuts on the Discovery Channel. The reality-TV series centers on the Kilcher family living in the Alaskan wilderness, including Atz Kilcher, father of folk/country singer Jewel.

2011-The Nigerian government files a lawsuit against Rick Ross for cancelling a concert in Cross River State, Nigeria, the night before. Ross was scheduled to perform at the annual Calabar carnival celebration but pulled out at the last minute without citing a reason. The Cross River State government sued the rapper for breach of contract and to recover his performance fee.

2008-Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard dies at age 70 of complications from a heart attack he suffered the month before.

2004-Beyond the Sea, a musical about the life of Bobby Darin, debuts in US theaters. Darin superfan Kevin Spacey - who co-wrote, directed, and starred in the film - does his own singing. 45-year-old Spacey is a little old to be playing Darin, who was only 37 when he died.

2002-Creed play a disastrous show in Chicago, leading four fans to sue the band, claiming lead singer Scott Stapp was either medicated or drunk, and "unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song." Stapp denies that he was drunk and claims rolling around on stage was an "Artistic Moment." The case is thrown out of court.

1997-The singer-songwriters Aimee Mann ("Save Me") and Michael Penn ("No Myth") get married.

1985-Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley have a daughter, Alexa Ray, her name a tribute to Ray Charles. She becomes a singer like her dad.

1982-Unexpectedly (and some say inexplicably) delving into electronic music, Neil Young releases his 12th studio album, Trans. This album, along with the one that follows it (Everybody's Rockin'), causes Geffen Records to sue Young for intentionally creating music that won't sell.

1980-Folk musician Tim Hardin, who wrote the hit "If I Were a Carpenter," dies of a heroin overdose at age 39.

Time Magazine Warns Of "Sex Rock"
1975-Time magazine introduces the phrase "Sex Rock" in an article taking aim at Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby."

1975-Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane break up after living together for seven years. Slick marries the band's lighting engineer the next year.

1973-Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle" hits #1 in the US three months after he was killed in a plane crash.

1970-Glen Phillips (vocalist, guitarist for Toad The Wet Sprocket) is born in Santa Barbara, California.

1967-Dave Mason announces that he is leaving Traffic, just as the group is releasing its debut album. Unlike the other members of the group, Mason didn't want to collaborate on writing songs, setting up something of a rivalry with fellow founder Steve Winwood and prompting Mason to pursue a solo career.

1966-Gary Lewis, whose band Gary Lewis and the Playboys charted seven Top 10 hits the previous two years, enters the Army. He serves in Korea and Saigon but never sees action. Lewis is the son of Jerry Lewis, but never considered using his connections to dodge the draft. Said Gary: "I got my draft notice, and the first thing that popped into my mind was Elvis did it, I'm doing it. That's all there is to it."

1965-The Sir Douglas Quintet are busted for marijuana possession in Corpus Christi, Texas. They get probation when they appear in court with short hair, wearing suits. "I'm glad you cut your hair," the judge tells them. "I saw your pictures in the paper when you were arrested and I don't go for that stuff."

1965-Dexter Holland (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist for The Offspring) is born Bryan Keith Holland in Garden Grove, California. He takes a break from his PhD research in molecular biology to become a punk rock star.

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé Marry
1957-Pop singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé get married at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They remain married until Eydie's death in 2013.More

1951-Broadway singer Yvonne Elliman is born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1947-Drummer Cozy Powell is born in Gloucestershire, England. He does stints in Black Sabbath and Rainbow, and also plays on albums for Whitesnake, Robert Plant, Brian May and many others. (Powell sometimes listed his date of birth as December 29, 1948, but the death register gives it as December 29, 1947.)

1946-Marianne Faithfull is born in Hampstead, London, England. Co-wrote the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" while in a relationship with frontman Mick Jagger.

1943-Rick Danko (bassist for The Band) is born in Blayney, Ontario, Canada. He drops out of school at age 14 to become a musician.

1941-Ray Thomas (flautist, percussionist for The Moody Blues) is born in Stourport-on-Severn, England.

1941-Rock 'n' roller Bobby Comstock is born in Ithaca, New York. Known for a hit 1959 cover of "Tennessee Waltz" and the 1963 pop hit "Let's Stomp."

1939-Country singer Ed Bruce is born William Edwin Bruce Jr. in Keiser, Arkansas, but is raised in Memphis, Tennessee.

1931-R&B singer John "Buddy" Bailey (of The Clovers) is born in Seneca, Virginia.

1902-Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" is copyrighted.

1812-Opus 96: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major by Ludwig van Beethoven is first performed.

1946-Marianne Faithfull is born in Hampstead, London, England. Co-wrote the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" while in a relationship with frontman Mick Jagger.

1943-Rick Danko (bassist for The Band) is born in Blayney, Ontario, Canada. He drops out of school at age 14 to become a musician.

1941-Ray Thomas (flautist, percussionist for The Moody Blues) is born in Stourport-on-Severn, England.

1941-Rock 'n' roller Bobby Comstock is born in Ithaca, New York. Known for a hit 1959 cover of "Tennessee Waltz" and the 1963 pop hit "Let's Stomp."

1939-Country singer Ed Bruce is born William Edwin Bruce Jr. in Keiser, Arkansas, but is raised in Memphis, Tennessee.

1931-R&B singer John "Buddy" Bailey (of The Clovers) is born in Seneca, Virginia.

1902-Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" is copyrighted.

1812-Opus 96: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major by Ludwig van Beethoven is first performed.

French Opera Brings "Mascot" To English Lexicon
1880-The opera La Mascotte opens in Paris, introducing the word "mascot."

[Bikkie]

Colenso's printing press
1834
Colenso arrives with a printing press
Church Missionary Society printer William Colenso arrived in the Bay of Islands on the schooner Blackbird with New Zealand’s second printing press.


Charles Darwin, c. 1880
1835
Charles Darwin leaves New Zealand after nine-day visit
Darwin's visit to the Bay of Islands on HMS Beagle was brief and unspectacular from his point of view. The Beagle's captain, Robert FitzRoy, would later serve as the second governor of New Zealand.



In Music History

Of Mice & Men Lead Singer Leaves Group
2016-Of Mice & Men lead singer Austin Carlile posts a letter on Instagram announcing he is leaving the group for health reasons.More

2012-The Birmingham Mail reports that Jim Simpson, the record industry A&R man who discovered and signed Black Sabbath, is launching a campaign to have the airport in Birmingham, England, renamed as "The Ozzy Osbourne International Airport." No word on whether the planes would play "Flying High Again" on takeoff and landing.

2011-Russell Brand files to divorce Katy Perry, citing irreconcilable differences. According to Perry, she finds out the next day when he texts her the news.

2010-Boney M lead singer Bobby Farrell dies of heart failure at age 61 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the anniversary of Rasputin's death. The notorious adviser to the tragic Romanovs was murdered in Saint Petersburg in 1916 and was also the subject of Boney M's hit single, "Rasputin."

2006-R&B superstar Brandy is involved in a car accident on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles that kills a 38-year-old woman who is struck by her Land Rover. No criminal charges are files, and a civil suit is later settled.

2004-Levon Helm of The Band sues the ad agency BBDO for using the song "The Weight" in a commercial without his permission.

2004-Artie Shaw - bandleader, clarinetist and composer - dies from a culmination of health issues, including diabetes, in Thousand Oaks, California, at age 94.

2002-After being pulled over for driving erratically, Diana Ross is arrested in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence, with a blood alcohol level reportedly twice the legal limit. She fails all sobriety tests at the scene, reportedly falling over when asked to walk a straight line. She is charged with three misdemeanor DUIs.

1999-George Harrison is nearly killed when the mentally disturbed Michael Abram breaks into his home and stabs him in the chest. Harrison's wife, Olivia, saves her husband by attacking Abram with a poker and a table lamp. George suffers a collapsed lung, but survives.

1999-Slade singer Noddy Holder is awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II, and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire).

1998-R&B singer Johnny Moore (of The Drifters) dies of respiratory failure in London, England, at age 64.

1995-Clarence "Satch" Satchell (saxophonist, guitarist for The Ohio Players) dies of a brain aneurysm at age 54.

1993-Songwriter Mack David dies at age 81. Known for his work on Disney films, such as Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, and for hits like Duke Ellington's "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So" (1939).

1991-Doo wop singer Richard Blandon (of The Dubs, The Paragons) dies in New York at age 57.

1991-Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have their second child, daughter Jessica Rae.

1986-Ellie Goulding is born in Herefordshire, England.

1978-Iron Maiden have their first recording session, laying down a demo at a studio in Cambridge, England, in the first of a two-day session they get on the cheap because nobody else wants studio time over New Year's Eve weekend. The demo gets the attention of DJs and club owners, earning the band a huge UK following in 1979 and eventually a record deal with EMI.

1978-R&B singer Tyrese is born Tyrese Darnell Gibson in Watts, Los Angeles, California. He catches his break singing the slogan "Always Coca-Cola" for a 1994 Coke commercial.

1978-Emerson, Lake And Palmer publicly announce their breakup.

1974-Bob Dylan records "Tangled Up In Blue," "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts," and "If You See Her, Say Hello."

1969-Peter, Paul and Mary's "Leaving On A Jet Plane" is certified Gold.

1969-Psychedelic rockers The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band announce they're breaking up.

1969-Jay Kay (lead singer of Jamiroquai) is born Jason Luis Cheetham in Wangford, Suffolk, England.

1968-Peter Tork leaves The Monkees, paying $160,000 to buy out his contract.

1968-Frank Sinatra records "My Way."

1967-The Beatles' "Hello Goodbye" becomes their 15th #1 single in the US.

1967-Songwriter Bert Berns - known for penning a string of '60s hits, including "Piece of My Heart," "Hang on Sloopy" and "Twist and Shout" - dies of a heart attack at age 38.

1963-The Beatles win Group and Record Of The Year ("She Loves You") in British music newspaper New Musical Express' annual year-end poll.

1962-Eighteen-year-old Brenda Lee's house in Nashville catches fire and burns to the ground; Lee injures herself slightly rushing back into the house to save her poodle, Cee Cee, but the pet unfortunately dies later from smoke inhalation.

1957-Bing Crosby's album Merry Christmas claims the #1 spot from Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album, but Elvis returns to the top spot a week later.

1956-Country singer Suzy Bogguss is born in Aledo, Illinois. She starts her career in 1985 by performing at a Tennessee amusement park called Silver Dollar City, soon-to-be renamed Dollywood.

1951-Chris Jasper (of The Isley Brothers) is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1948-Kiss Me Kate, Cole Porter's musical adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play The Taming Of The Shrew, opens on Broadway at the New Century Theatre.

1947-Rock musician Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra, The Traveling Wilburys) is born in Shard End, Birmingham, England.

1946-Punk rock icon Patti Smith is born in Chicago.

1946-Clive Bunker (drummer for Jethro Tull) is born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

1945-Davy Jones (of The Monkees) is born in Manchester, England.

1942-Frank Sinatra performs as a solo act for the first time, playing to a crowd of screaming teenage girls at the Paramount Theater in New York City.

1942-Michael Nesmith (of The Monkees) is born Robert Michael Nesmith in Houston, Texas.

1940-Perry Ford, of The Ivy League, is born Brian Pugh in Lincoln, England. The vocal trio, made up of session singers, was first heard on The Who's 1965 hit "I Can't Explain."

1939-Felix Pappalardi (bassist, vocalist for Mountain) is born in the Bronx, New York.

1937-John Hartford - bluegrass, folk and country musician - is born John Harford in New York City, New York. On the advice of record producer Chet Atkins, he would add the 't' to his name.

1937-Folk singer-songwriter Noel "Paul" Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary) is born in Baltimore, Maryland.

1934-Del Shannon of "Runaway" fame is born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

1931-Country singer Skeeter Davis, known for the 1962 crossover hit "The End of the World," is born Mary Frances Penick in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. She performs as part of the duo The Davis Sisters in the '40s before going solo in the '50s.

1928-R&B and rock 'n roll icon Bo Diddley is born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Mississippi. He grows up on the South Side of Chicago, where he and his friends perform music on street corners.

1865-The author, journalist and poet Rudyard Kipling is born in Bombay, Imperial India. The Joni Mitchell song "If" is based on his poem of the same name.

1536-Italian lutenist/composer Alessandro Piccinini is born in Bologna.

[Bikkie]

1853-Grey leaves New Zealand after first term as governor
During his first term as governor, George Grey was praised for ending the Northern War and obtaining land from Māori, but he angered settlers by delaying the implementation of a constitution that would have given them some political power.

Poster for the Gathering, 1996/97
1996
First Gathering dance festival held
On New Year’s Eve around 4000 people made their way to the remote location of Canaan Downs, Tākaka, to take part in the first Gathering, a two-day festival for electronic dance music fans.



In Music History

2022-Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies of cancer at 74.

2018-Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show dies at 81.

2017-Britney Spears wraps up her Vegas show Britney: Piece of Me, after four years. It's her last concert for a while; a subsequent residency is cancelled, and she refuses to perform under the terms of her conservatorship, which has been controlled by her father since 2008.

2017-Rabbi Shmuley Boteach places an ad in the Washington Post claiming that Lorde is an anti-Semite because she cancelled a concert in Israel in protest over the treatment of Palestinians.

2016-Taking the stage in Times Square to ring in the new year, Mariah Carey gets through "Auld Lang Syne" but then stops singing and narrates the technical problems to the crowd as the backing track plays on.

Mötley Crüe Play What They Claim Is Their Final Concert
2015-Mötley Crüe play what they claim is their last show: a New Year's Eve concert in Los Angeles complete with Nikki Sixx's flamethrower bass and Tommy Lee's drum roller coaster.

2015-Natalie Cole dies of heart failure at age 65. The singer (daughter of Nat King Cole) battled health problems for much of her life; drug use led to hepatitis C, and in 2009 she had a kidney transplant.

2014-Six months after divorcing salsa singer Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez officially drops her married name (Muñiz).

2009-Blues singer Earl Gaines dies at age 74, after his declining health forces him to cancel a European tour.

2008-At halftime of the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, 40,148 fans perform the "Y.M.C.A." dance while the Village People perform, establishing a Guinness World Record. It is the most memorable part of the game, which Oregon State wins 3-0 over Pittsburgh.

2002-Phish jump back in the pond with a concert at Madison Square Garden, their first show since going on hiatus in October 2000.

2000-Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson marries actress Kate Hudson in Aspen, Colorado. Their seven-year marriage includes the birth of their son, Ryder.

1997-Floyd Cramer, pianist and forerunner of the "Nashville sound," dies of lung cancer at age 64. He played piano as a session musician on Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel."

1996-Queen Elizabeth II announces that Paul McCartney will be knighted - these announcements are traditionally made on New Year's Eve.

1994-Rod Stewart plays a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, drawing a crowd estimated at 3.5 million (the fireworks help goose that number). Guinness declares it the largest free rock concert ever.

1991-Ted Nugent, who often donates meat from his kills to charity, serves about 200 pounds of venison courtesy of the Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger program at a Detroit soup kitchen, telling clients, "I kill it, you grill it."

1991-After 62 years, Radio Luxembourg, Europe's oldest commercial radio station, goes off the air for good.

1985-Rick Nelson dies in a plane crash at age 45. A child star on The Ozzie and Harriet Show, he became a teen idol as a singer, charting 36 hits on the Top 40.

Def Leppard Drummer Loses An Arm
1984-Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses an arm when he crashes his Corvette. He continues with the band, using computer aids and relying more on his feet.

1982-E Street Band guitarist Miami Steve and/or Little Steven Van Zandt marries Maureen Santora at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Little Richard officiates, Bruce Springsteen is the best man, and Percy Sledge sings "When A Man Loves A Woman" during the reception.

1980-At the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, bass player Kathy Valentine plays her first show with The Go-Go's, establishing the lineup that in 1982 becomes the first all-girl band to land a #1 album in America.

1980-Bruce Springsteen plays an epic show at the Nassau Coliseum lasting 4 hours, 38 minutes and covering 38 songs. The best we can tell, it's the longest Springsteen show ever.

1978-Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco closes its doors for good after the Grateful Dead play their 48th concert there. Also on the bill: The Blues Brothers.

1978-The Runaways play their final show at Cow Palace, near San Francisco. The all-female hard-rock band have been through several line-up changes, but are finally torn apart through conflict between Joan Jett, who wants to take the band in a glam-rock direction, and Lita Ford who wishes to stay in the hard-rock genre. The band formally split the following April.

1978-Bauhaus play their first show, performing at the Cromwell Public House in Wellingborough, UK.

1975-Casablanca Records' single release party for Donna Summer's debut single, "Love To Love You Baby," features a life-size cake in the shape of the singer, flown in all the way from Los Angeles to New York (it's also Summer's 23rd birthday).

1975-Elvis Presley sets a new single-show solo record at a concert in Pontiac, Michigan, which earns $800,000.

Buckingham And Nicks Get Fleetwood Mac Offer
1974-Having lost guitarist Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac make an offer to Lindsey Buckingham, but he comes as a package deal with his girlfriend, Stevie Nicks.More

1973-AC/DC makes their live debut at the Chequers Bar in Sydney, Australia.

1973-Journey, formed by ex-Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, make their live debut at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Rolie handles the lead vocals; Steve Perry doesn't join the group until 1977.

1972-Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first New Year's Rockin' Eve concert is broadcast on NBC; guests include Three Dog Night and Al Green.

1972-Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block is born in Needham, Massachusetts. He joins NKOTB just before turning 13.

1971-The Band plays at the New York Academy of Music with a full horn section. The following year, the show is issued as the double album Rock of Ages.

1971-David Clayton-Thomas and Fred Lipsius play their last show with Blood, Sweat & Tears at a concert in Anaheim, California. Clayton-Thomas goes on to a solo career.

1970-Paul McCartney sues to dissolve The Beatles partnership and breaks ties with Allen Klein, whom the other three members have chosen to manage their affairs. The case drags on for years until the partnership is finally dissolved in a 1975 private agreement.

1969-Jimi Hendrix's new group, Band of Gypsys, make their concert debut at the Fillmore East ballroom in New York City. The show is later released as the album Band Of Gypsys.

1969-A BBC TV special declares John Lennon Man Of The Decade on the same day that Rolling Stone names him Man Of The Year and New Musical Express quotes him as saying he's thinking of leaving The Beatles.

1968-Billboard magazine reports that this year, for the first time, US total music sales have topped one billion dollars.

1967-Sonny and Cher are suddenly disinvited to appear at tomorrow's Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, after publicly backing the "Sunset Strip Rioters," teenagers protesting the city's new curfew.

1966-The Monkees' "I'm A Believer," written by Neil Diamond, hits #1 in America. The song stays at the top for seven weeks.

1965-Alf Lennon, John's estranged father, releases "That's My Life (My Love And My Home)," a single designed to ride the coattails of John's success and his recent song "In My Life." John Lennon instructs manager Brian Epstein to make sure it is blackballed in the UK.

1963-Scott Ian (guitarist, backing vocalist for Anthrax) is born Scott Ian Rosenfeld in Queens, New York.

1963-The Kinks make their stage debut at the Lotus House Restaurant in London.

1962-John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam, who form The Mamas & The Papas in 1965, are married. Their marriage falls apart in 1968 around the same time the group implodes. They're officially divorced in 1970.

1961-The Beach Boys perform live for the second time, appearing on a bill with Ike & Tina Turner at the Ritchie Valens memorial dance in Long Beach, California. They earn $300 for their efforts.

1959-Paul Westerberg (lead singer, guitarist for The Replacements) is born in Minnesota.

1956-The BBC premieres its new musical variety show Cool For Cats.

1955-The first version of "Unchained Melody," recorded by Les Baxter, his Chorus and Orchestra, is named the top-selling single of 1955 by Billboard. Baxter's version was featured in the movie Unchained; The Righteous Brothers have a huge hit with the song in 1965.

1952-When his original guitarist has a stroke just before a New Year's Eve gig, popular St. Louis boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson hires a 26-year-old hairdresser named Chuck Berry for his group The Sir John's Trio.

1951-Fermin Goytisolo (percussionist for KC and the Sunshine Band) is born in Cuba.

1951-Tom Hamilton (bass player for Aerosmith) is born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He co-writes the hits "Janie's Got A Gun" and "Sweet Emotion."

1948-Donna Summer, the "Queen of Disco," is born LaDonna Adrian Gaines in Boston, Massachusetts. She earns her new surname when a record label misprints her married name, Sommer, as Summer.

1947-Roy Rogers marries Dale Evans. They'll pen the famous Western tune "Happy Trails" just a few years later.

1947-Burton Cummings (lead singer, keyboardist for The Guess Who) is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

1943-Pete Quaife (original bass guitarist for The Kinks) is born Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife in Tavistock, Devon, England.

1943-John Denver is born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. in Roswell, New Mexico.

1942-Andy Summers (guitarist for The Police) is born Andrew James Somers in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. The self taught guitarist, renowned for his use of modern electronic effects, is also a talented photographer and publishes several books of behind-the-scenes shots of the band recording and performing.

1940-After forming the rival company BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.), radio stations in the United States stop playing music licensed by ASCAP (the American Society of Publishers and Composers) in a dispute over fees. The boycott lasts 10 months, with stations filling airtime with non-ASCAP songs, mostly older tunes in the public domain.

1930-Blues and folk singer Odetta is born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama. Named the "Queen of American folk music" by Martin Luther King Jr., Odetta sings "O Freedom" at the 1963 March on Washington.

1928Classic pop singer Ross Barbour (of The Four Freshmen) is born in Columbus, Indiana.

1920-Actor Rex Allen, who has a country hit with "Don't Go Near the Indians" in 1962, is born near Willcox, Arizona.

1912-Twelve-year-old Louis Armstrong fires his stepfather's pistol during a New Year's Eve celebration and is sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where his musical training begins. He joins the band and takes up cornet, astounding instructors by learning solo on "High Society."

1905-The composer Jule Styne is born Julius Kerwin Stein in London.

[Bikkie]

1859
New Zealand’s first lighthouse lit
Pencarrow Head lighthouse, at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, was lit for the first time amid great celebration.


Last meeting of the Legislative Council, December 1950
1951
Legislative Council abolished
The Legislative Council was New Zealand's Upper House, to which members were appointed, not elected. It ceased to exist on New Year's Day 1951.



In Music History

2019-Pegi Young, Neil Young's wife from 1978-2014, dies of cancer at 66. Pegi sang backup for Neil and released three solo albums.

2013-For the first time in 41 years, the New Year rings in without Dick Clark, who passed away in 2012. Clark, host of American Bandstand amongst many years of entertainment in TV and radio, hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve from 1972 until 2012, even making video phone-ins from his hospital bed while recovering from a stroke in his later years. The show continues with many memorial tributes to Clark, as his protégé Ryan Seacrest takes over as the new host.

2013-Patti Page, a pop and country singer who had a huge hit with "Tennessee Waltz," dies at age 85, suffering from both heart and lung disease.

2012-During celebrations in Times Square, Lady GaGa shares a kiss with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg just after the ball drops.

2011-Shania Twain gets married for the second time, this time to Frédéric Thiébaud, the ex-husband of Twain's former best friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud, who had an affair with Twain's first husband, Mutt Lange, leading to their divorce.

2011-Hugh Laurie, a blues artist and actor best known for his role on the TV drama House, wins the fourth Golden Mouth Organ Award on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Laurie earns the award by playing "Oh! Susanna."

2011-An 84-year-old Chuck Berry collapses on stage in Chicago at a New Year's Day concert. He makes a full recovery.

2010-Chris Cornell tweets that Soundgarden, split since 1997, are getting back together.

2007-Country singer Del Reeves - known for the 1965 novelty hit "Girl on the Billboard," among others - dies of emphysema at age 74.

2006-Flavor Flav's reality show, Flavor of Love, premieres on VH1. The series lasts for three seasons. Flav is one of the founding members of the pioneering rap group Public Enemy.

2006-Guitarist/songwriter Bryan Harvey (of House of Freaks) is murdered in his home along with his wife and two young daughters. The crime is part of the Richmond spree murders, a series of deadly home invasions in Virginia perpetrated by Ricky Javon Gray and his nephew Ray Joseph Dandridge over the course of a week.

2005-Ne-Yo earns his first #1 hit as a songwriter when "Let Me Love You," performed by Mario, seizes the top spot for the first of nine weeks. Billboard ranks the song as the eighth most successful single of the decade.

Gavin DeGraw Lands Top 10 Hit With One Tree Hill Theme
2005-Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be," the theme song to the popular teen drama One Tree Hill, peaks at #10 on the Hot 100 in the midst of the show's second season.


2004-Charles Aznavour is named a Commander in the French Legion of Honor.

2003-Aretha Franklin sings the National Anthem when Michigan's first female governor, Jennifer Granholm, is sworn into office.

2002-56-year-old Eric Clapton marries the 25-year-old American graphic designer Melia McEnery, who will be the mother to three of his children: Julie Rose, Ella, and Sophie. It's a surprise wedding that takes place at St. Mary Magdalen church near London, where his 16-year-old daughter Ruth and 6-month-old Julie Rose are getting baptized. After the baptism, the vicar turns around and marries the couple to the astonishment of the 20 guests.

2000-George Harrison is informed that he will be able to play guitar again following knife injuries to his hand during Michael Abram's recent home invasion.

2000-George Harrison is informed that he will be able to play guitar again following knife injuries to his hand during Michael Abram's recent home invasion.

1997-Noah Kahan is born in the tiny town of Strafford, Vermont, the setting for his 2022 breakout hit "Stick Season."

1997-Townes Van Zandt, a long-suffering alcoholic, dies of a cardiac arrhythmia after hip surgery at age 52.

1995-Blues singer-songwriter Ted Hawkins dies of a stroke at age 58.

1991-Buck Ram - producer, songwriter, and arranger - dies in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 83. Produced all recordings by The Platters.

1990-The Clearwater, Florida, radio station WKRL becomes the first "All Led Zeppelin" station, kicking off the format flip with 24 straight hours of "Stairway To Heaven." The all-Zep rotation lasts two weeks, after which they become more of a traditional Classic Rock station (they also switch their call letters to WXTB).

1990-Ween release their debut full-length album, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, on Twin/Tone records. The album contains 26 songs, some of which had appeared on the six cassette tapes the band had self-released in the late '80s.

1984-Blues musician Alexis Korner dies of lung cancer in London, England, at age 55.

1980-Cliff Richard becomes just the third rock act honored with an MBE (Member of the British Empire) designation, following The Beatles and Elton John.

1976-Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant walks for the first time following his horrible car accident in Greece the previous year.

1975-Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham officially join Fleetwood Mac, bringing with them the songs "Rhiannon" and "Landslide."

1972-Three Dog Night become the first rock band to ride on a float in the Rose Bowl parade. Three of their hits (including "Joy To The World") play on a loop as they traverse the route.

1972-Carole King's album Music, her follow-up to Tapestry, hits #1 in America.

1968-The Berkeley, California, swamp-rockers The Golliwogs change their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

1968-Al Stewart moves into a basement flat, number 10 Elvaston Place. One of his visitors is Yoko Ono, who records "The Snow Is Falling" there.

Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence" Hits #1
1966-Simon & Garfunkel reunite after a reworked version of their song "The Sound Of Silence" hits #1 in the US.

1967-As a thank you to the citizens of San Francisco who helped raise bail money for two of their members who were jailed the previous day during a parade, the Hells Angels stage a concert at Golden Gate Park with performances by the Grateful Dead and Big Brother & the Holding Company (lead singer: Janis Joplin). The event is christened "The New Year's Wail."

1966-The Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album Whipped Cream and Other Delights kicks off 1966 with its sixth week at #1 in America. It falls off the next week but returns for two more weeks in February. By the end of the year, Alpert's albums spend a total of 18 weeks at the top spot, more than any other act, including The Beatles.

1964-The Beach Boys begin the new year with a 7-hour session at Western Recorders in Hollywood, where they record "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "The Warmth Of The Sun."

Top Of The Pops Debuts With The Beatles at #1
1964-BBC-TV premieres a new musical variety show entitled Top Of The Pops, kicked off by The Rolling Stones' "I Wanna Be Your Man," followed by lip-synced performances from Dusty Springfield, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and The Swinging Blue Jeans.

1962-The Beatles and The Tremeloes both audition for Decca Records, with The Beatles performing 15 songs at the label's studio in London. Decca signs The Tremeloes but passes on The Beatles, reasoning that "guitar groups are on the way out."

1962-The romantic comedy If A Man Answers, starring real-life husband and wife Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, debuts in US theaters. Darin writes and performs the hit title theme.

1959-For the first time, ABC-TV's teen dance program American Bandstand leads the US daytime television ratings.

Johnny Cash Plays To A Captive Audience At San Quentin Prison
1959-Johnny Cash plays one of his first jailhouse shows when he performs at San Quentin prison in San Rafael, California. Among those in the captive audience is Merle Haggard, who is serving time for burglary.

958-Grandmaster Flash is born Joseph Saddler in Barbados. The name "Flash" came about because he had a friend named Gordon, so one of their buddies called him Flash so they would be "Flash Gordon," like the sci-fi superhero.

1956-Carl Perkins releases "Blue Suede Shoes."

1955-Joan Weber's "Let Me Go Lover" hits #1 for the first of four weeks.

1953-Hank Williams dies of a heart attack in the back seat of a Cadillac while traveling to a concert in Ohio. He was 29.

1951-This being the Prohibition Era, performers are required to carry a "Cabaret Card" to play clubs in New York State. Charlie Parker's card is revoked because of drug charges against him, which makes it very difficult for him to earn a living.

1950-Morgan Fisher (keyboardist for Mott The Hoople) is born Stephen Morgan Fisher in Mayfair, London, England.

1942-Joe McDonald (lead singer of Country Joe & The Fish) is born in Washington, DC, but will grow up in El Monte, California.

1941-James West (lead vocalist for The Innocents) is born.

1940-W2XDG in New York becomes the first licensed FM station and begins broadcasting from the Empire State Building.

1923-Jazz vibraphonist Milt "Bags" Jackson is born in Detroit, Michigan. He is discovered by famous jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

1900-Bandleader Xavier Cugat is born with the impressive moniker Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu in Girona, Spain.

[Bikkie]

1938
First official airmail flight to San Francisco
The first official New Zealand airmail to the United States left Auckland for San Francisco on Pan American Airways’


In Music History

2019-Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille dies at 76.

2017-Arnold Schwarzenegger sends off Carnie Wilson on the first episode of The New Celebrity Apprentice, introducing his new firing line, "You're terminated. Hasta la vista, baby."

2014-Jay Traynor of Jay & the Americans dies at age 70.

2010-Kesha's first single, "TiK ToK," hits #1 on the Hot 100, where it stays for nine weeks, making it the longest-running chart-topper of 2010.

2008-With talk of a Kinks reunion in the air, the band's guitarist, Dave Davies, takes to the Internet to share his feelings: "It would be like a poor remake of Night Of The Living Dead."

2003-Pop singer Edward Farran (of The Arbors) dies of kidney failure at age 74.

2000-Jazz cornet and trumpet player Nat Adderley dies of complications from diabetes at age 68.

"Chocolate Salty Balls" Hits #1 In The UK
1999-"Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)" from the TV series South Park hits #1 in the UK.

1997-Randy California, the guitarist for Spirit and composer of the song "Taurus" that Led Zeppelin borrowed for the intro of "Stairway To Heaven," drowns at age 45 while rescuing his 12-year-old son from a rip current in Molokai, Hawaii.

1985-Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones marries his second wife, Jo Karslake, in Buckinghamshire, England, with guests Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, and the other members of the Stones (except Mick).

1993-With "The Last Song" charting at #24, Elton John logs his 23rd consecutive year with a song in the US Hot 100, breaking Elvis Presley's record. Elton's streak started in 1970 with "Border Song" and continues into 2000 with "Someday Out Of The Blue," stretching the new record to 31 years.

1981-David Lynch of The Platters dies of cancer at age 51 in Long Beach, California.

1981-Kelton "Little Drummer Boy" Kessee (drummer for Immature) is born in Los Angeles, California. He gets his first drum kit at age 6.

1978-Two months after quitting the band, Ozzy Osbourne rejoins Black Sabbath. The reunion doesn't last long: He's kicked out of the band the following year.

1975Doug Robb (lead singer for Hoobastank) is born in Agoura Hills, California.

1975-Suzi Quatro lands the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with the headline, "Suzi Quatro flexes her leather." With a string of UK hits under her cowhide, she's ready to conquer her home country (born and raised in Michigan), but fails to break through. The magazine does get the attention of Happy Days producers, who cast her on the show as Leather Tuscadero.

1975-US District Court judge Richard Owen allows John Lennon and his counsel access to his FBI files in his ongoing deportation case, on Lennon's suspicion that the deportation attempt is politically motivated.

1974-Country singer and actor Tex Ritter (father of actor John Ritter) dies of a heart attack in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 68. His first of many hits was 1944's "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You."

George Harrison's Solo Album Starts 7-Week Run At #11971
George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, his first album released after the breakup of The Beatles, begins a seven-week run at the top of the US albums chart.

1969-The Beatles begin work on what becomes their Let It Be album and accompanying film. The project is filled with tension as the band quarrels over the songs and the direction of the band. Both the film and the album are eventually released after the band breaks up.

1969-Police confiscate a shipment of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Two Virgins at Newark airport, deeming the cover, which shows the couple naked, to be pornographic.

1965-Elvis Presley's soundtrack LP Roustabout hits #1.

1962-A scheduled appearance by The Weavers on the Tonight Show with host Jack Paar is canceled after the folk group refuses to sign a statement denying any involvement with the US Communist Party.

1955-In Memphis, the funeral is held for Blues star Johnny Ace, who accidentally shot himself on December 25, 1954. His pallbearers include Junior Parker and Roscoe Gordon.

1954-Eddie Fisher's "Oh! My Pa-Pa" hits #1 in the US.

1954-Glenn Goins (singer, guitarist for Parliament, Funkadelic) is born in Plainfield, New Jersey.

1950-Sam Phillips opens the Memphis Recording Service, which he later renames Sun Studio. Among the artists to record there is Elvis Presley, who gets his start recording with Phillips.

1946-Chick Churchill (keyboardist for Ten Years After) is born Michael George Churchill in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England.

1843-The opera Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) by Richard Wagner premieres in Dresden.

1941-The Andrews Sisters release "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

1936-Country singer-songwriter Roger Miller - known for crossover hits like 1964's "King of the Road" - is born in Fort Worth, Texas.

1930-Pop singer Julius La Rosa - known for '50s hits like "Anywhere I Wander" and "Eh Cumpari" - is born in Brooklyn, New York.

1926-The first edition of the legendary British music magazine Melody Maker is published, promising news and information for "all who are interested in the production of popular music."

1905-Composer Michael Tippett - known for the 1955 opera The Midsummer Marriage, among many other notable works - is born in Cornwall, England.